Cycle of father and son (April-June, 1890)

Diplomacy: Japan]

Tsar Alexander III was in early April visiting Japan, meeting with Emperor Meiji in southern Honshu, Nara prefecture to be more specific (at the time the Kashihara Shrine was being built).

Both leaders discussed foreign diplomacy issues when Japan was a few months away from having the first diet elections under the Meiji constitution (and Asia's first "popular" diet, although the vote was obviously extremely limited at the time).

The tsar offered cultural and economic exchange agreements, mainly around tourism, some Japanese students, businessmen and civilians traveling to Russia (for studies, business or / and leisure), continuing good commercial relations, etc.

This was obviously palatable for the Meiji Emperor, after the conflict of the quadruple intervention against the Qing, Japan had recovered, but there would still be economic problems in a future war, and Russia was the most important partner of the Japanese military forces.

Russia also dominated Korea, so directly or indirectly, Russia had a great influence like the one that fed Japan.

The tightening of ties, which also allowed some Russians to travel more comfortably to Japan, was accompanied by gifts from Emperor Meiji to Alexander III, mainly in plants such as a Sakura tree and some bonsai, which became notable elements of the Botanical Garden. of Saint Petersburg.

*******

* Imperial Japanese Army.

Among the various political circles, Yamagata Aritomo (one of the most important members in the founding of the Imperial Japanese Army) had brought together various members of the IJA.

Among the top commanders were Ōyama Iwao, Oku Yasukata, Kuroki Tamemoto, and Katsura Tarō, while among minor commanders or lower soldiers were Nogi Maresuke, Akiyama Yoshifuru, Ōshima Yoshimasa, and Kodama Gentarō.

This great military meeting was to discuss the situation between Russia and Japan, many members of the IJA were more than willing to go to war with Russia, after all Japan still had interests in Korea and potentially Manchuria, interests to which Russia was opposed for its own interests.

Amid all the noise, Yamagata Aritomo ordered silence. "Everyone attention ... the gap for Japan to be able to defeat Russia in a war, is getting shorter and shorter." Katsura Tarō, student of Aritomo announces.

There were many questions among the military before such information.

"... Do you know where our oil, our iron and much of our food comes from?" The main leader of the meeting, Yamagata Aritomo asks seriously.

There is silence.

"Most of it comes from Russia, one way or another. If we're going to go to war with Russia, it must be a quick war. If not, the army will just starve, the Russians don't need to lift a finger." Yamagata Aritomo explains, it was a horrible reality.

"And then what are we going to do?" Some of the top officials ask.

"... At the moment we must get more resources." Yamagata Aritomo announces, focusing the IJA's attention on the Philippines.

With the "openness" in Meiji politics, members of the navy and army would compete for high political positions to carry out their interests.

On many occasions this also led to violent attacks (unsuccessful or successful) by navy or army militants against pro-army or pro-navy prime ministers.

*******

[Zoos: Novaya Gvineya, Moscow, etc]

The year 1890 continued with the completion of various botanical gardens and expansions of zoos and the infrastructure of the nature reserves of Russia and some of its colonies.

In particular, something that the English miss and didn't understand was Tsar Alexander III specifically buying flora and fauna from Australia and New Zealand for his projects.

This includes animals like some Apteryx (kiwis) and tuatara (sphenodon punctatus, last survivor of the Sphenodon, they are not true lizards but they look alike) from New Zealand.

One of the most notable events is the capture and purchase of various specimens of the Tasmanian tigers or thylacine, which were divided into two groups, one from Novaya Gvineya and the other from Eurasia.

Creatures of all kinds were captured, bought and shipped, mammals, birds, reptiles and others, some of which in the future would become extinct in the wild and completely from Australia-New Zealand, leaving Russia as the sole owner of various endemic populations of the region.

This continued with the economic and tourist development of Russia and its colonies, which was good for the Tsar, who also continued with his programs to reproduce populations of vulnerable, endangered or extinct animals in their wild environment.

*******

* English perspective.

"... What if this is a distraction?" Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Prime Minister, proposes.

"What do you mean?". King Edward VII asks in confusion.

"Well, the tsar just suddenly buys fauna and flora from our colonies, while his son is touring foreign countries." The prime minister explains.

"No, it doesn't make sense. My own son has traveled to Asia, he got a tattoo in Japan, Nicholas is doing the same ... well, I dont know if he is getting a tattoo but he is indeed traveling, if a young man can do it he'll probably take a chance to take a trip." King Edward VII responds.

"It is true, Alexander III traveled to the United States when he was young for example ... How different are the tsar and his son?" The prime minister questions, as prime minister, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil knew things, but he could not interact or know in depth the Tsesarevich.

He knew the basics and some mentions, the Tsesarevich was very physically similar to his cousins, very different from his imposing father in that respect, but both had a certain ... strangeness.

Seemingly friendly men and aristocrats, an impeccable code of respect at diplomatic meetings, but Alexander III was a huge thorn in the British flank, and the prime minister feared that Nicholas was the Alexander the Great of the Philip of Macedon (Alexander III).

"Mmm...". The king thinks a bit, being in very different generations, in reality he did not know Tsesarevich Nicholas as much as Albert Victor, George and Wilhelm II did.

*******

[Diplomacy: Siam]

Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich and his traveling embassy arrived in Siam, to the kingdom of King Phra Chula Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua, better known as Rama V, reformer and patron of the sciences in Siam.

The Russians were received positively in the kingdom of Siam, with the Tsesarevich being decorated and receiving some gifts from local officials.

The most curious gift was a small mechanical elephant, not a toy but also a demonstration of the artisan-mechanical skills of the Thai people.

However, Tsesarevich Nicholas was not partying and walking, his visit caused an important fact in the Russian-Thai relations, since he established for the first time official and permanent relations between Siam and Russia.

With the arrival of the heir a permanent diplomatic envoy from Siam was sent to Russia and a permanent envoy from Russia was sent to Siam.

It was not the first time that the Russians knew Siam or were in the area, but diplomatic relations did not have a permanent or developed character before the arrival of the Tsesarevich (commercial Russia-Thailand relations existed and were growing but without diplomats).

This left a good impression of the Tsesarevich in the region, especially when Siam was between the British Raj and German Indochina.

While Tsar Alexander III congratulated his heir on this success, he decided to see if the Germans would focus their attention on Laos before deepening political ties with Thailand.

After all, a Thailand afraid of being swallowed up by Europeans (Germany or the United Kingdom), like Aceh, would turn to other Europeans (Russia) to maintain a kind of independence.

*******

*Nicholas perspective.

"I can't wait to show the Old Man the gift of Thais, I'm sure he would love to produce something like that to sell (I mean, he likes mammoths and elephants, so why not a toy elephant for the kids of Russia?).

So far all is well, I have been asking a few questions after the typical courtesy talks at the court of King Rama V.

Mainly what Siam produces, its geography, its history and some cultural details. They seem useless questions but I think it will help me to help formulate a policy towards the region, a Thai channel would be a good idea but the problem is the English and the investment in the region...

Well, if I know the old man, he'll probably want me to take a few small steps first. We already have some trade with Siam, now we have to figure out how to continue deepening that trade to bring Siam to a friendly trade partner or even a pseudo-ally in the region, similar to Ethiopia.

That's when I realized something, Thailand, geographically, is very close to Aceh, and therefore to the New Silk Road, maybe some gastrodiplomacy would be a good idea to start, taking Russian food from the New Silk Road to Thailand .

There will be time to discuss it with the old man when I am in Europe again."

- Notes from Tsesarevich Nicholas.

*******

[The end of Bismarck]

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was removed from his post, marking another point whereby the end of the 19th century is considered the end of one era and the beginning of another, although it is still a disputed topic (as is everything in historiography).

The powers were industrializing and technological advance was unstoppable, but social and cultural progress was still "backward" or unadapted to the new conditions in the European region.

The war was still widely romanticized, and it was not understood as industrialized warfare, various social and labor rights were not consolidated or particularly advanced, etc.

*******

* Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary had many problems, some might think that the end of Bismarck could mean an Austro-German approach, but that was not the main issue of Austro-Hungarian politics.

Kaiser Franz Ferdinand (most used name, although the official name was Franz II) was not particularly prepared for a political rise (a problem that the Austro-Hungarian monarchy would have for quite some time), although he had allies in the army (such as for example Friedrich Graf von Beck-Rzikowsky) and supported the idea of a necessary military reform, there were not many ways to solve the problem.

The Hungarian magnates and the Hungarian army were not to Franz Ferdinand's liking, and he was not to their liking.

Politically speaking there were several problems, Franz Ferdinand was against the current state of Austria-Hungary, but he lacked the energy and political activity to really change anything, for example the kaiser was extremely ambiguous, not very committed.

It is generally accepted that the kaiser supported the idea of weakening the Hungarian structures (one of the two ethnic groups with great power within Austria-Hungary) through trialism (Austria-Hungary-Croatia or the South Slavs) or Greater Austria federated according to ethnic lines.

There were also separatisms and ethnic minority discontent against Austro-Hungarian dualism, although the kaiser had some support from some Slavic elites, he never managed to take advantage of these relationships.

There was also a fairly large socialist-labor movement, which was part of the large demonstrations in Western-Central Europe, more specifically with demonstrations in Vienna.

*******

*German empire.

The German Empire of Kaiser WIlhelm II was at a crossroads, the kaiser gained notable political influence with the removal of Bismarck (although obviously it was not unlimited power and influence), but the political-social and economic situation still had several aspects.

For example the federal elections, where the left-center and the center-right continued a very important division. On one side was the Zentrum (center or center-right Christians, but allied with the center and center-left due to political attacks from the right during Bismarck's time), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Marxists, social democrats and some other socialists) and other liberals.

On the other side are the National Liberal Party (center-right, supporters of Bismarck before the 1880s), the German Conservative Party, the Free Conservative Party, other conservatives and nationalists such as the Pan-Germanicists.

As if that were not enough with these political tendencies (adding labor movements in protest for Europe, although Wilhelm II is less anti-socialist than Bismarck), the German economy is ... too big for Europe, too small for the world.

Germany has ambitions, ambitions that need a powerful economy and army, that is, manpower, resources, production, markets, etc.

This requires an expansion of Germany around the world (allies, colonies, new markets), but within Europe itself, Germany is small (smaller and with fewer natural resources than Russia, with a navy behind the United Kingdom, even with less colonies than France, but is also anchored in an alliance without powerful allies).

In short, Germany wanted to expand and for that it had to do something, but doing something was costly for the German economy and therefore for German expansionist ambitions (for example the Kiel canal and Tehuantepec at the same time).

But Germany had an advantage and a very large "bank", the Netherlands, the Germans continued to economically plunder Indonesian resources (colonial and local) precisely to supply the problems of the German economy.

Oil, money, rubber and other Dutch products began to be the basis of German growth (similar to how Mexico or France used foreign capital, the difference was the degree of control since the Netherlands was a puppet, although rebellious, it was militarily weaker than Germany and that defined everything).

*******

* France, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The internal policy of the other three great powers did not change fundamentally due to the fall of Bismarck, in fact the French celebrated a lot while they continued with their actions within their country and colonies.

But it was a change in foreign policy that Britain and Russia would have to acknowledge to accommodate the policies of Wilhelm II and future chancellors or other German political actors.

Russia already had a good footing with Germany, but the English royal family was out of date, they disliked Wilhelm II and King Edward VII was quite pro-French, so the English political situation could not adequately adapt to the new realities and observe what was happening in France, Africa, Germany and other regions with a different focus.

*******

[May 1]

May 1 is a time of "terror" for various members of the government and the economy of Western-Central Europe and North America (Canada and the United States mainly).

There was a massive organization of large number of demonstrations and strikes in towns and cities by the mining workers, demanding an eight-hour workday a day.

This was especially focused on Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon and London, with notable demonstrations in Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Rome, among other cities in Central-Western Europe.

Unfortunately the organization is only one day, and the eight hour workday will not be achieved until many years later in various parts of Europe.

In France in particular, enormous violence (state monopoly) was unleashed against mine workers who protested against the Boulanger regime.

Belgium and Italy were no exception (use of police force, although not as massive as in France).

In Germany and the United Kingdom the situation passed mostly peacefully, although regions culturally different from the majority (such as Ireland or the Catholic south of Germany) continued to cause some problems.

It is especially in Portugal and Spain where problems continue to occur with the labor movements during the following weeks, as a result of the weak national and economic situations of these states (Portugal after losing face to the English ultimatum, and Spain due to the aftermath of the civil war, etc).

*******

*Mexico.

The Second Mexican Empire was a particular case, the government of Maximilian I of Habsburg had made some labor reforms, which had improved the quality of life of Native American workers and others.

It was not an eight-hour workday, but the salaries arrived, there were no physical punishments and more social security compared to years before the Habsburg government.

Maximilian I still held considerable powers, but the emperor's personal weaknesses undermined his own authority. He preferred to do things by legal and democratic means, and unfortunately Porfirio Diaz continued to be elected as minister-president.

Two completely different personalities, Porfirio Diaz, being a military man with authoritarian characteristics, used the army and his powers as minister-president to establish order and progress. He was popular in part because of this, but problems arose because of his long tenure in government, his support of the Mexican oligarchy, and so on.

Something particular about the government of Porfirio Diaz is that under his government the Mexican beer industry was greatly protected, due to the policies of the Porfiriato, the price of beer dropped considerably, making it accessible to the Mexican worker.

In Mexico, beer used to cost more than the entire salary of an industrial worker, but with Porfirio's measures, beer was lowered to about 30 cents (accessible to workers, with a salary mostly of 35 or more cents) .

This makes a happy population, and I contribute greatly to the Mexican beer culture. A content population is less willing to a revolution or demonstrations like those that occurred in the United States and Canada on May 1.

*******

[International]

April 2, Tsar Alexander III visits Japan.

May 2, Russia and Siam initiate official diplomatic relations.

May 20, the Dutch Vincent van Gogh moves to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

June 16, Royal Dutch Petroleum is founded, a shell company of various German merchants related to the government of Kaiser Wilhelm II for the exploitation of Dutch energy resources.

June 27, Canadian boxer George Dixon defeats English champion Ben Jordan (bantamweight), giving Dixon the claim to be the first black to be champion in a sport (by the white man's standards and rules in 1890 of course ).

*******

[Congo]

1 of June.

The Kingdom of Sweden-Norway creates the Congo Census Bureau (Swedish, Kongos folkräkningsbyrå, Norwegian, Kongos folketellingsbyrå), with the aim of accounting for foreign financial (investment) and human (labor) resources in the colony of the Kongo.

This for a reason, for Swedish-Norwegians, populating the region is difficult, it is very different from home and populated by many, many different tribes, and with a lot of wild and potentially deadly nature (like mosquitoes).

However, the Swedish-Norwegians have managed to build an administration, mainly on the coast, from where they can control many of the Congolese exports abroad, having built infrastructure in that area.

The majority of the tribes remain nominally under Swedish-Norwegian authority, but most are de-facto independent, until the Swedish-Norwegian authorities sign contracts between the natives and investors (be they Swedish-Norwegians or other foreigners).

Swedish-Norwegians have been forced to create border posts along the vast Congolese border, mostly landlocked, making the situation more difficult. But it is necessary to avoid problems and facilitate the situation between the other European colonies, their interests, and the Swedish-Norwegian Kongo.

The first reports indicate a considerable disparity, the Germans are focusing their investments and human capital in the surrounding eastern regions with German East Africa because they have their interest in a trans-African railway.

However the Germans are not notable settlers or densely populated, they are rather administrators, traders and exploiters who want a railroad.

The German ally, Italy, while not having a colony close to the Kongo, has many capable and honest workers who form a notable but scattered population in the Kongo. The workers are not permanent settlers or administrators, but rather send their earned money home (remittance).

France is investing in the northwest of the region, surrounding the French African colonies, mainly around the extraction of resources to feed the French economy.

The United Kingdom also invests to get wealth, but there is a problem that has seriously damaged British investments, the objective was to form a Cape-Cairo railway, but with the loss of Sudan, British investments in the north of Kongo have suffered heavy damage, lost trusted, etc.

Neither of these two states has formed particularly large colonies, but they have significant economic interests that require a semi-permanent or permanent presence (which has not been manifested for the time being as mentioned above).

This means that the Congo is a poorly developed and extremely diverse region, which other powers want to overexploit to further their interests.

... In short, the Congo is just another representation of Africa and European colonialism in the region.

*******

[The Bullmoose]

* Perspective of Theodore Roosevelt.

"The Travels of Theodore Roosevelt Jr".

"After my trip to the east of Lake Baikal, I headed across the Trans-Siberian towards Irkutsk, where I also passed the cities of Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk, until I finally reached Omsk.

The sight of these great cities was impressive, even bigger than Vladivostok, although the cities did not have monuments as large as the brotherhood statues, they were still a magnificent sight.

Great universities, and hundreds of high schools and schools where citizens served, streets for pedestrians, bicycles and cars, green parks, factories, markets and other growing industries, and residential neighborhoods as far as the eye could see. Regarding architecture, the Asian influence disappeared more and more as I got closer to the west, now if the classical European styles and the "Neo Byzantine" of Russia predominated.

Even the mosques of the local population did not resemble what we understand as ordinary mosques, although they did have some Arabic art, their construction seemed orthodox, with domes similar to onions.

When the land is so immense for Russia, building up is not so necessary, especially after discovering in a 'komitet' office how the Russians exhaustively plan the details of their cities.

There was nothing similar to the templates and plans of Russian cities to what existed in America, although both states planned railroads from one end of our country to the other, the Russians went much deeper than us in this regard.

Although perhaps it is because Russia was colder and hard in many ways, so waste resources could be a huge damage (perhaps that is why in recent years Russia has been so concerned with increasing its industry and developing more productive agricultural areas, I didn't know the answer at that time).

Speaking of the population, the population is happy... but does not usually smile at foreigners or strangers. In part we can understand this as the satisfaction of the needs of citizens, through the New Silk Road (from Asia or Europe) the center of the route obtained products of all kinds.

For example, in the cities I observed the increase in the use of "Romanov" cars among citizens as I went further west, surprisingly cheap, I considered buying one but decided to wait to go to the heart of Russia before that."

*******

[A georgian boy]

*Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili.

The boy was 11 years old, with some scars on his face from an illness, he was not a bad student but he was particularly troublesome on many occasions. The young Ioseb lived in Gori, a city in economic development (product of the development of the Russian economy, growing industry, literacy, railways, etc).

The young was walking unattended on the streets and was run over by a Romanov car while crossing, but the young Iosif did not die, he broke his arm (and would be left with sequels for life) but was taken to the hospital without further damage.

*******

"Where are we going?" Ioseb (Iosif) asked, terrified inside, the smell of alcohol from his father flooded his nostrils.

"Wait." Besarion Ivanes dze Jughashvili promptly insists, squeezing his son's right arm as he leads him out of the hospital.

This was a kidnapping carried out by a father towards his son (the mother, Ekaterine Geladze, a worker, had wandered away from her husband due to the alcoholism of the aforementioned Besarion) that the Russian authorities in the region investigated.

However, the case would not be resolved until a few months later, in part because Besarion took his son to Tbilisi.